thoughts from a freelance editor on self-editing, writing, and reviewing Christian fiction... with a little bit of life thrown in

Friday, August 14, 2015

Grin with Grace by Kathy Carlton Willis

About the Book:

Have you ever felt the need to bite your tongue or grit your
teeth? Grin with Grace explores ways
to genuinely smile in the face of adversity and challenging circumstances.
Sometimes, we just need to grin with grace! God blesses us with His grace, and
it impacts our relationship with Him and with others.

Each chapter features five sections:
• Grin with Grace contains real-life stories and observations. You’ll laugh at
the humorous confessions and wacky insights, and relate to Kathy’s transparent honesty.
Be inspired to see grace in your everyday life.
• Grow with Grace features a grace word study. Kathy examines Bible verses and
personalizes the meaning to your situation. Workbook prompts allows you to
write down your thoughts as you read along.
• Go with Grace offers life application. Pick one action step and make it work
for you, or pick all of them—but do something to live out your grace-walk.
• Give with Grace advances life application further, equipping you to become an
instrument of God’s grace to others. You’ll be inspired to take what you’ve
learned and give it away to others. This is when faith becomes ministry—when
your focus expands to see the needs of others.
• Your Grin with Grace Challenge describes a grace-challenging scenario to give
you an opportunity to exercise your newfound grace. It allows for speculation
and judgment calls, to prepare you for the what-ifs that happen in life.

About
the Author:

Kathy Carlton Willis
writes and speaks with a balance of funny and faith—whimsy and wisdom. Not many
funny girls also have Bible degrees! Kathy is a pastor’s wife, which gives her
plenty of opportunities to grin with grace. She shines the light on issues that
hold women back and inspires their own lightbulb moments. Almost a thousand of
Kathy’s articles have been published in books, magazines, newspapers, and
online publications.

She’s affiliated with several Christian writer and speaker organizations and
serves as a consultant in the industry. Kathy’s tagline describes her best:
Light and Lively: His Reflection/Her Laughter. Learn more at:
www.kathycartonwillis.com.

Margie’s Comments:

When I received the opportunity to post a review** of Grin with Grace by Kathy Carlton Willis,
I accepted because the topic of grace is one that is dear to me. As I learned
over twenty years ago in Christian counseling for clinical depression, not only
have I been saved by grace, I have also been called to live in grace.

Kathy has written Grin
with Grace for individual topical Bible study, but as a Bible study leader,
I’m excited about recommending this for any group Bible study. (Grin with Grace DVDs will be available
for personal or group use in a few weeks.) There are twelve chapters, perfect
for a 12-week study. But Kathy includes a seven-week schedule that can be
modified to fit your group. There’s a Study Guide at the back of the book that
gives leaders suggestions in guiding a group discussion each week.

Kathy’s conversational style makes it easy to identify with
her stories of learning to Grin with Grace
and to clearly see what Scripture has to say on each week’s topic. The chapters
deal with various aspects of living in grace. My favorites are “The Sufficiency
of Grace,” “The Freedom of Grace,” and “The Strength of Grace.”

Now that I’ve read the book, I plan to go back through it at
a much slower pace, filling in answers to questions and challenges throughout
the study. I look forward to sharing this study with others, and finding new
Grace-Gal Pals. (I already have several, but there’s always room for more!)

**I received a free
copy of Grin with Grace from the
author in exchange for a review.